New lift, new steering feel

[ctyoter]

2008 Sport 4WD
Bilstein 5100/OME 2884 Springs at 1.50" (Front)
Bilstein 5100/OME 2895E at 2.0" (Rear)
BFG TrailTerrain 265/70/17 on stock rims
Stock UCA & LCA

Took me forever but I finally completed install of new shocks, springs and rebuild of CV's. Drove the car for a little and then took it in for alignment which appears to have fixed my steering wheel being at 11 o'clock when driving straight, but I had and still have a weird "light" or wandering steering feel when driving. With stock suspension, steering felt heavier and stiffer, if you will, which I liked. It kinda feels like the rear of the car is weighted down and there is little weight on the front if that makes sense.

I looked this up and saw that a caster of over 3-deg is ideal and if I'm reading my report correctly, the shop has mine at 0.8L and 0.3R. That seems way off and might explain my steering issues.

Is this something that should be able to be adjusted with stock control arms, or is that the limit I'm stuck with with what I have?

 

[rdruss]

It would have been nice to know where your alignment numbers were before you did your suspension work to have a good comparison, even if it's a couple years old. I would think that you should be able to get 1 Degree plus of caster at least with your setup.

 

[Usurper]

Lifted trucks tend to feel "floaty" after a lift. High caster UCAs should help with the issue and tighten it back up.

 

[ctyoter]

It would have been nice to know where your alignment numbers were before you did your suspension work to have a good comparison, even if it's a couple years old. I would think that you should be able to get 1 Degree plus of caster at least with your setup.

That would've been nice if just to know how things compare but never had an alignment done as it wasn't needed.

 

[ctyoter]

Lifted trucks tend to feel "floaty" after a lift. High caster UCAs should help with the issue and tighten it back up.

Can look into those but I'm done working on the car for a while; I've had my fill of mechanicking for the time being. AFAIK, driving it like this shouldn't hurt things so I have time. Wasn't all that bad actually driving to and from work including a short run at highway speeds. Still different feeling though.

 

[Usurper]

Can look into those but I'm done working on the car for a while; I've had my fill of mechanicking for the time being. AFAIK, driving it like this shouldn't hurt things so I have time. Wasn't all that bad actually driving to and from work including a short run at highway speeds. Still different feeling though.

Yep, you should be all good for now. The only reason for concern would be if its taking driving confidence away. It should be good to go if you can deal with it.